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Updated, 8:19 p.m. | Investors argued publicly for months against Darden Restaurants’ plans to spin off Red Lobster, the 46-year-old seafood chain that was the root of the company’s dining empire.

On Friday, Darden batted away those concerns by agreeing to sell the restaurant brand, which owns more than 680 outlets in the United States and Canada, to the private equity firm Golden Gate Capital for $2.1 billion in cash.

The announcement is the latest twist in the most public challenge yet to Darden and its chief executive, Clarence Otis, as it continues to try to regain the customers it lost during the recent recession.

Friday’s deal is perhaps the biggest rebuke so far to the activist investors, who have called for a more drastic breakup of the casual dining company. The deal does not require the approval of shareholders, making it unlikely that the disaffected hedge funds can stop the transaction.

Darden announced plans five months ago to spin off or sell Red Lobster, a move that it said would be good for investors by allowing it to focus on core holdings like Olive Garden. Since then, it had contacted dozens of potential buyers before settling on Golden Gate Capital, a private equity firm that also owns California Pizza Kitchen.

Part of the deal will be financed by a separate $1.5 billion transaction in which a real estate firm, American Realty Capital Properties, will buy Red Lobster’s properties and lease them back.

On Friday, Darden executives said that the sale would give it $1.6 billion in net cash immediately. About $1 billion of that will go toward paying down debt, while the remainder will help finance a new stock buyback program of up to $700 million.

The dissident investors, who had successfully corralled enough support to win a special shareholder meeting later this year on the sale, felt differently.

The chief executive of one of the two activist hedge funds, Starboard Value, said in a statement on Friday that the sale “woefully undervalues” Red Lobster. The executive, Jeffrey Smith, added, “This board’s value-destructive and self-serving actions fly in the face of corporate democracy.”

The chairman and chief executive of the other investment firm, James Mitarotonda of Barington Capital Group, called the deal “unconscionable” and argued that it was struck at a “fire sale” price.

Privately, some investors complained that the sale-leaseback transaction meant that Golden Gate Capital was paying only about $600 million for Red Lobster’s operations. They also argued that Darden was paying an unreasonably high $500 million in taxes on the deal.

Shares in Darden fell more than 4 percent on Friday, to $48.49, though Mr. Otis attributed that, in part, to short-term investors who had bet on a bigger shake-up.

When asked about the lack of a shareholder vote on the deal, the lead director of Darden’s board, Chuck Ledsinger, said that the company had requested such a provision during its negotiations with Golden Gate and other prospective buyers. But it was rebuffed.

“It was clearly communicated during this process, by all bidders, that uncertainty was unacceptable,” Mr. Otis said.

Furthermore, the Darden chief executive said that waiting until after the special shareholder meeting — whose vote would have been nonbinding in any case — could have prompted Golden Gate Capital to walk away.

A spokesman for the private equity firm declined to comment.

Barring any surprises, the Red Lobster deal is expected to close by next summer. Afterward, Darden will focus on improving its remaining properties, particularly the biggest one it has left.

“One of our most important priorities is regaining operating momentum at Olive Garden,” Mr. Otis said.

Darden was advised by Goldman Sachs and the law firm Latham & Watkins, while its board received advice from Morgan Stanley and the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

Golden Gate was advised by Deutsche Bank and Jefferies, the investment bank; it received financing from the two banks and General Electric’s finance arm.

A version of this article appears in print on 05/17/2014, on page B3 of the NewYork edition with the headline: Darden Sells Red Lobster In a $2.1 Billion Deal.